Preparation of the Prophet

Not only does God call prophets to ministry, He prepares them. 

First up, a diet on the sweet and blessed Word.

Ezekiel 3:1–3 (ESV) And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.

God's Word is often described as sweet in the scriptures. 

Psalm 19:10 (ESV) More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Psalm 119:103 (ESV) How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Now what's amazing is how the message of sweetness can be so easily rejected. For God will send Ezekiel to a hardened people. A people who are familiar with the Lord and, therefore, have inbred contempt for Him and His agents. 

Ezekiel 3:6–7 (ESV) Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. 7 But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart.

Indeed, Ezekiel's ministry would be met with rejection. To prepare the prophet for hardened hearts, the Lord emboldened Ezekiel with a hardened concentration on the work.

Ezekiel 3:8–9 (ESV) Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9 Like emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.”

We should note the preparation process at work in the prophet. He is not left as he is, the Lord has done several key things to make him ready. The Lord has fed him the Word, the Lord has warned him of the toil, and the Lord has established his heart. 

But if that's all the Lord did, it would not be enough. Ezekiel would need the empowerment of the Spirit, and that is exactly what happens next. 

Ezekiel 3:12–13 (ESV) Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory of the LORD from its place!” 13 It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of a great earthquake.

God's prophets typically have this sort of experience with the Lord. They are overwhelmed by the power and majesty of the Most High. I would venture to suggest that UNTIL a man of overwhelmed by the Lord, he will constantly be overwhelmed by the popular sentiment of his context. This is why the Lord personally commissions His prophets with a supernatural experience. The prophet is to fear nothing other than the power of the Lord.

After this momentous and overpowering experience in the Spirit, the prophet is sent supernaturally to the people to deliver God's message. When he arrives, we see Ezekiel do something that far too few ministers of the word are willing to do. He dwells among them and inhabits their condition for a good while.

Ezekiel 3:15 (ESV) And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.

YET, Ezekiel is to deliver the message to these hurting people without wavering. And God sets the parameters of the mission. Their blood will be on his head if he does not declare the Truth. 

Ezekiel 3:17–19 (ESV) “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 18 If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

A key thought to this developmental and transformational moment in Ezekiel's life is that our spiritual anointing is ultimately a spiritual responsibility. God anoints and appoints. Christians want the anointing but do they accept and fulfill the appointment? Yet the man or woman who does accept is blessed knowing their work is not in vain. God accomplishes His good pleasure through the pronouncement of His effective Word.